First Mead Plan - Check My Work

[Belatu]

Hello,

I will soon be embarking on my first mead adventure. I've put together an equipment/ingredient list as well as some calculations in this google sheet.

If an experienced mead master could take a look and check it over I would greatly appreciate it.

I'm also wondering what the correct procedure is for using two separate yeasts. Since I'm going for a high APBV I was thinking I would use both the Red Star Premier Blanc Wine Yeast in the initial pitch, then add Lalvin ICV - K1-V1116 once I reach 1.124 SG (16% APBV) or whenever the it stalls out to get it up to the 18% APBV.

I haven't bean able to find any resources on what the protocol for something like this is, so I'm hoping someone could share their experience, or how I should go about it.

• Should I add both of these yeasts in the initial pitch, or stagger them as stated above?
• Should I add all of the honey initially, or save some for the second pitch of the Lalvin ICV - K1-V1116?
  • If so, how do I calculate how much honey to save in reserve?
• What else am I missing?

 

[DBhomebrew]

With all sincerity, I encourage you to start with a normal strength mead for your first go around. 12-13% or so. 3lb/G of honey. And drop your batch size to 1G, honey is expensive and your first few batches may not, likely won't be the mead of your dreams.

 

[DBhomebrew]

It looks like you're using a TOSNA protocol. Consider checking out TANG. It's largely TOSNA, but also takes into account the YAN contribution of the GoFerm.

https://experimeads.com/2017/10/24/g-ferm-yan-and-mineral-protocols/

 

[Belatu]

It looks like you're using a TOSNA protocol. Consider checking out TANG. It's largely TOSNA, but also takes into account the YAN contribution of the GoFerm.

https://experimeads.com/2017/10/24/g-ferm-yan-and-mineral-protocols/

Thanks, Ill take a look.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Pitching any yeast into 10%+ ABV isn't likely to be effective. Yeast have a tough time getting going in adverse conditions like that. Some wine yeast strains have a killer trait, they will aggressively outcompete another strain. You'll want to be sure your two strains are compatible.

One method of making a sack mead (high ABV) is to calculate your original gravity to hit or come near the yeast's ABV tolerance. When you get there, start adding honey a bit at at time keeping an eye on gravity. For example, add honey to a gravity of 1020. Watch it drop to 998. Add to 1020, watch it drop to 1005. Add to 1020, drop to 1015. Add to 1020, it stays there. Let it sit a bit. Still 1020, package. This way you can be sure you don't end up with a sickly sweet mess. Additionally, some have found this method will help push a mead a good deal past its yeast's published tolerance. Bray Denard wrote about this in some of his BOMM material.

Still, I highly recommend a standard 12-13% mead for your first attempt.

 

[Dan O]

Everything @DBhomebrew just said